Lost souls: The fallen angel and the quilt girl
by Gamefreak982928
Summary: There's panic in the Leaf Village when a mysterious stranger from a fallen village is found on the brink of death. Everyone fears for their lives, but is she really as bad as everyone thinks? Meanwhile, a girl who sells quilts in the sand village is lost.
1. Prologue: Perishing Hope

Prologue: perishing hope

Anguish. It was all she could feel at this point. Pure anguish which consumed every inch of her soul now. She had been soaring through the heavens on wings of chakra for hours now. She soared on as every last droplet of her energy was being poored into her journey. The only source of energy fueling her now was panic. Pure and undeniable terror which was present in her every thought and feeling. The air bit her as she flew as fast as she could, freezing the blood running from open wounds on her pale skin. Her shredded clothes gave her very little comfort. Her body was slowly giving out. She could feel every muscle in her body aching. She felt herself slowly dropping from the skies, falling from grace once more.

Slowly the ground got closer to her body until she felt her body being dragged along the rough gravel, ripping and tearing her skin even more than before. She finally came to a stop face down into the dirt. Her knees were simply bloody wounds now, and her arms were on fire with cuts and scrapes. She slowly picked her face up off the dirt, bringing her hand gently to her lip. She looked to see a crimson line running along her index finger. She looked behind her, and picked herself up off the ground and began to run.

She ran in severe agony for a few more miles now. She tried to ignore the pain, but the less pain she felt in her mangled body, the more pain she felt in her soul. The emotional pain and trauma was more than she could handle. It was deeper than any cut or scrape on her body. Her mind was flooded, overloading with gruesome images and painful memories of times long ago. Fears and terrors she was hoping to leave behind years ago had finally caught up with her. Her frozen blue eyes reflected the pain she felt in her soul.

Her painful run slowed into a cripled walk, and then to a forced limp. Even though her vision began to blur, she managed to recognize a gate a few yards in front of her. She staggered towards it, trying her best to stay upright. She began to hillucinate, and each step she took brought a distant, painful memory. A face. A life. Each life was once so precious to her. But as her hopes and dreams did years ago, these faces, too, did fade with every step she took now. Past friends, close family, familliar faces all perished in front of her, as did all of her hope. Every face that appeared before her and disapeared again took a part of herself with her. A final face of a man flashed before her. As he faded away, he took with him the last part of her, her will to live and keep going, away with him. She fell to the ground, and everything around her faded into nothingness as she plunged into a dark world.


	2. Chapter 1: Touched by Death

Chapter 1: Touched by Death

"You're late _again_, Kakashi-Sensei!"

Kakashi walked over to Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, who were waiting for them like usual.

"We've been waiting here for HOURS!"

"My apologies.." Kakashi began, cheerfully, scratching the back of his neck. "I ran into an old friend, and well, you know how it is.."

"Thats pretty pathetic, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, with his arms folded and an obvious pouting frown on his face. "You could at least try a little harder to come up with an excuse! That was a crappy story!"

Kakashi sighed. "Well, now that I'm here, lets get started."

"What are we doing today, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura. "Are we getting another mission?" Sasuke stood by with his arms folded. Naruto was getting more and more impatient by the second.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei! I want another mission, and this time, i want a good one! Not another one of those little kid missions granny Tsunade always gives us!" He complained. Kakashi sighed. Just as stubborn and immature as usual, he thought to himself. He looked up at the clear blue sky. There were no clouds, only the blinding sun and the deep azure sky which stretched endlessly above him. He had a strange feeling. He hasn't seen any other jounin on his way to meet his team. Usually he see's them on missions, training with their students, or even just standing around and conversing with fellow ninja. However, today, there was no one around. He shrugged and turned around.

"Well, lets get going." And with that, the four of them, with Naruto leading of course, headed towards the hokage's office. When they got there, Kakashi was shocked to see that Tsunade wasn't there.

"What the hell's going on?!" Yelled Naruto, who was now more impatient than ever. "Where the hell is granny Tsunade?!"

"Shut your mouth, Naruto!" Yelled Sakura menacingly, which seemed to prove enough to keep Naruto quiet. For the time being, anyways. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the pair. Kakashi slowly walked up to her desk.

"Thats funny..." he said to himself, scratching his head. "She was supposed to be here..."

Just then, Team 7 heard a door open and shut behind them. Sakura turned and saw Shizune holding Ton-Ton.

"Shizune-san?" Sakura said. "Where's Tsunade-sama?"

"Oh... You didn't hear?" Shizune asked. She looked up at Kakashi. "She has ordered you to the recovery ward. The Anbu Black Ops are all there as well. She says everyone else must stay out of the area... just in case."

"Huh? Why? What happened?" Kakashi inquired. Shizune lowered her eyes.

"An outsider was found outside the gates of the village." She said.

"An outsider..?"

"Yes... But... there's more..."

"Hmmm?"

"She's one of_ them_... She was touched by death..."

Kakashi's eye widened. Naruto was unamuzed by this claim.

"Waddya talking about? What do you mean by that? 'Touched by Death'? Sounds awesome!! Can we come see?!"

"Absolutely NOT, Naruto!!" Kakashi said, sounding more tense than usual. "I want you three to go home _imediately_."

The three turned away, and Kakashi listened to Naruto's complaining as it faded down the hallway.

"So..." he began. "They're still out there..."

"Yeah... This way. I'll lead you to the room." As they walked to the recovery ward, Shizune told him everything she knew. "We found her this morning. She was passed out facing towards the gate, heavily damaged and barely alive. We believe that she was cursed not too long ago, from all the battle wounds.."

"Do you know where she's from?" Kakashi asked. Shizune slowed down, and stopped. She turned to him.

"Not really... but... We did find this..."

She pulled out a hitai-ate from her pouch and handed it to him. He looked at it. He was startled to see a feather design on the front.

"Th-This is...!"

"Yes... At some point in her life, she was a shinobi from Umogakure..."

"The village hidden amongst the Feathers..." Kakashi said thoughtfully to himself.

"But... That village was destroyed over fifteen years ago... Wasn't it?" Shizune questioned.

"Yes. It happened in one single night. The ruling clan was wiped out in less than three hours, and, well..." Kakashi looked down at the hitai-ate. "We can all guess what happened to everyone else... I'm just amazed anyone survived."

"Are you serious?! Just who managed to destroy an entire village in such a short ammount of time?"

"The Soul Thiefs... Aparantly they managed to take the entire village by storm. The primary cause of death was by burning."

"How terrifying..."

"Thats not the worst of it..."

"Hm?"

"There were only three soul thiefs there."

"What?!"

"Somehow, three soul thiefs managed to murder everyone in the village, and then burned everything to the ground. I don't know much about the ninjutsu they use, but from what I've heard, once you're a target.."

"You're pretty much done for..."

Kakashi looked down at the ground. "However, that is if they feel merciful enough to kill you."

"!!"

"It seems this survivor was one of the very unfortunate ones..."

"I've heard people say that it's a fate worse than death."

"So... where is the outsider?"

"This way..."

Shizune led Kakashi down the hall and stopped when they got to two sliding doors.

"I'm not to go inside." Shizune said. "Tsunade-sama is inside. Along with the Anbu Black Ops..."

"I understand. Thank you, Shizune-san."

Shizune nodded and walked away. Kakashi opened the doors, walked inside, and shut them again.


	3. Chapter 2: Amaya

Chapter 2: Amaya

Kakashi was immedeately greeted by an anbu captain when he walked into the room. Lady Tsunade looked over her shoulder when she heard Kakashi return the welcome. There was a strange stillness in the air. Kakashi could feel the anxiety that filled the room. It was smothering, pushing down on his lungs and making his heart feel heavy with dispair. Kakashi had heard so many stories about the vicious soul theives, but they were believed to be gone for almost ten years. Everyone thought they were gone forever. Kakashi never knew why; weither it was because of some unknown event or just wishful thinking, but they were gone for ten years, and that meant that they were never to return. People clung onto this belief, like it was gods solemn promise that this evil shall never return. Everyone believed it.

Until today.

Kakashi gingerly made his way up to the bedside, where Lady Tsunade was waiting for him. She turned back and looked back down at the victim.

"It's been confirmed. She's been cursed."

Kakashi looked at the body of the woman. She had one give away sign of the curse. Her hair was matted, almost burned looking, and faded from ebony black to an evil violet as his eyes followed down the strands. He reached down and touched a small lock of it. It was so thick and tangled that he couldn't hope to even get his fingers into her hair yet alone comb them through. her hair also felt very dry and dirty, like it was never combed in her entire life. He quickly drew his hand away. He had heard tales about this horrible fate, but he had never in his life witnessed it first hand. His eyes left her hair and scanned the rest of her body. She had no clothes on, and her body was covered in bandages, scars, cuts, scrapes and bruises. She had a tiny patch on her eye, held on by a bandage. Her breasts were hidden beneath bandages, and she had a small cloth around her waist. Blood stained the bandages on her knees.

"She was found outside the gates this morning around ten AM." Lady Tsunade began. "She arrived here in critical condition. She lost so much blood that the wounds stopped bleeding even though they've been too deep and open for the blood to clot. She barely made it."

"I see..." Kakashi didn't sound too shocked. "And, is there any particular reason why she doesn't have any clothes on?" he joked.

"These were all that were left of them." she said and held up a rag, blood stained and barely in one piece. Kakashi couldn't tell what they could've been before the attack.

"Ah..." He looked at the victim again. Her skin was unnaturally pale. Yet another sign. "Any idea when she was cursed?"

"Based on the time we found her and her wounds we believe that it was this morning. However..." she lowered her head. "We could be wrong..."

"Hm?"

"She could have been cursed for years now... And these wounds.."

"I've heard that people have a deep hatred for the ones touched by death.." Kakashi said, almost to himself. "Some go so far as to chase them out of their homes. Or worse..."

"It's such a tragic fate.." Tsunade said. "Others fear that the cursed are sleeper agents for the soul theives and treat them as such... The cursed are usually forced into an ultimatum."

"An ultimatum?"

"Join the soul thieves, and survive, although it means sacrificing everything you believe in, all your dreams, goals... your humanity and your soul... and be damned to a life of murdering innocent people against your will... Or try to live your life alone, greeted with hatred and violence from others every single day, unrightly accused of wrongful deeds you are innocent of, suffering until the day you die... be it from old age, or by another's hand..."

Kakashi looked into the womans face. It seemed so gentle, her soft skin almost glowing in the pale sunlight which poured into the room from the windows. The soft shadows brought out each gentle curve of her body. Her face seemed vacant of any emotion except for a hint of torment in her right eye and a gentle frown on her lips. The thought that such a woman could be the target of the soul thieves and sentanced to such a horrible fate weighed heavy on his mind.

"So... She won't be able to feel anything?"

"No emotions whatsoever." Tsunade confirmed. "The curse seals away the heart of the victim, taking away emotions and feelings. At least.. thats what we know about it. There hasn't been much research on the curse, mainly because, well... Most victims are killed by villagers before they can be studied."

Kakashi slowly nodded, unable to take his gaze away from the womans face. Tsunade reached into her bag.

"We also found this on her." she said as she pulled out a Kunai and Shuriken pouch, as well as one unusually large kunai with a very long wire tied to the handel. This kunai had a coat of blood on it. "This blood is not her own... She tried to fight back..."

Kakashi's eye widened. This woman didn't look particularly strong, and judging from her mangled body, he was pretty sure she knew at least near the begining of the battle that it was one sided. So why would she fight back?

"We also found six holes in her back. There was no blood coming from them though, and they seemed to have been sealed off, by the enemy we think."

"Why would they do that?"

"I looked into the history of Umogakure. It turns out that the ruling clan, the Kiseki clan, had their own Kekei Genkai, as well as a special collection of jutsus. One of those said jutsus was called the Yume Tsubasa no Jutsu, The Dream Wing Jutsu."

"Go on." said Kakashi, who wanted to learn more about this clan.

"It seems they would channel their chakra through pores in their back, and the chakra would take the form of angel wings, and even allow them to fly."

"So you're saying..!"

"Yes..." She looked back down at the outsider. "She must be the last of the ruling clan." She paused for a moment. "The trails of blood leading to where we found her only began twenty meters from here though, and there wasn't enough blood to suggest that she was attacked there. I'm guessing she flew."

"But how could she if her jutsus were sealed off?"

"They followed her and sealed them off when she passed out." She turned to the Anbu. "The guards went to the entrance because they heard a deep voice yelling, forming a jutsu. When they got there, only the victim was there. One reported that they saw what looked like a shadow running away. That must have been when they sealed off the keikei genkai."

"They did that to keep her from flying anymore, right? So that next time she'll be easier to catch?"

"No... they could have taken her then just as easily..."

"So why?"

"To force her to use... _those_ jutsus."

"What..?"

"One effect the curse they put on her is that she has learned the soul thieves jutsus and has been given the chakra to use them. They are all forbidden jutsus and for good reason. The moment you use them, your heart is forever tainted with evil. These jutsus attack the soul, mangle the victims, and leaves them alive to suffer. If the user wants to, they can even send the souls of their victims to hell itself. This is how they force the victims into the ultimatum. If she cannot use her orriginal techniques, she either has to join them by using the jutsus, or just let herself be killed via lack of defense. And whats more... If she uses them, that curse will be perminant."

"You mean... there is a way to break the curse?"

"Yes. But... I don't know how."

She took a Kunai and grabbed the bandages that covered the uppermost part of her chest. She carefully cut some away and exposed the curse mark, which looked much like a strange set of prison bars, and lay on top of her heart.

"So thats what it looks like, huh?" Kakashi pondered.

"I was hoping Jiraiya would be able to recognize it and tell us how to break it. He should show up soon."

There was a sudden shot of panic that flew through the room when they noticed the woman's eye twitch. All eyes fixed on her, and the anbu all grabbed their swords, preparing for the worst. The tension in the room was like nothing Kakashi felt before. Her eye slowly opened. It was pale blue, almost like it had been frozen on the inside, a layer of ice obscuring the view. Another scar of the curse. As she sat up, all the Anbu drew their swords and pointed them at the womans neck. To Kakashi and Tsunade's amazement, she didn't flinch, or even show any sign of being startled at all. She casually glanced up at Tsunade and Kakashi.

"Where am I?" She asked in a startlingly calm, emotionless, almost monotone voice.

"Put your swords away!" Tsunade ordered. The Anbu complyed, albeit slowly. She then turned to the woman. "You are in the village hidden in the leaves."

"Thats right. Now I remember." She said, seemingly lost in thought. "So I survived after all... too bad." Her demeanor was almost chilling. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Hokage."

"Oh. Yes, of course."

"Who are you?"

"My name is... Kiseki Amaya." It almost seemed like she was trying to remember, or rather, force herself to tell them. She took a lock of her hair in her fingers and looked at it. "They got me, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did." Tsunade answered. Amaya nodded slightly, almost as if she was accepting her fate. Her face seemed almost concrete. it never changed. She glanced over at her left arm, which was in a cast.

"I could have sworn I died."

"Well, you almost did. it took me hours to get you in stable condition."

"I have a question for you, Hokage-sama." She slowly brought her gaze up to Tsunade's face. "Why did you save me?"

Kakashi was almost horrified by this. This can't be real. How could anyone possibly be this cold? It sent chills down Kakashi's spine just watching her.

"Everyone diserves a second chance." Tsunade replied. Amaya just casually nodded. Just then, Jiraiya came in through the door.

"So, where is she?" he asked. Tsunade stepped aside and Jiraiya came up to the bed. He saw the curse mark. "I see..." he said, almost sadly. "I know how to break this curse.."

"I have to kill the soul thief who did this to me..." Amaya interrupted. Again, there was no emotion. Only an expressionless face and a cold monotone voice. Jiraiya was stunned for the moment, but slowly nodded. "I see.. And my Keikei Genkai was sealed off, right? I can tell." she said feeling her back with her hand. "How unfortunate." She paused. "You can all leave now... I can imagine how upsetting it is for all of you to watch me." The Anbu stayed where they were, only leaving when they got a nod from Tsunade. Amaya stared ahead, not looking away even when there was no one there to look at.

Kakashi still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Every moment he watched her, his heart sunk deeper and deeper. It almost frightened him to watch her. But he found himself unable to take his gaze off of her. She slowly swung her eyes from the wall in front of her up to kakashi's face. Kakashi almost felt his heart stop when her eyes met his. It was almost as if his soul was frozen in place. Her stoic eyes devoid of any reaction to his frozen gaze. She slowly blinked. Kakashi couldn't. Finally after what seemed like hours of unnerving tension, she broke the silence with equally void words.

"You have been staring at me for a long time now." Her mouth barely moved, only enough to form words. She looked almost as if she was mumbling to herself. "Why is that?"

"I-I..." Kakashi found himself at a loss for words. She interrupted.

"It's alright. Answer me not." She looked down, almost at Kakashi's chest. "I wouldn't trust me either. I'm too inhuman." She looked back up at his face.

"N-no, that's not it, really." Kakashi scratched the back of his neck. He couldn't think of what else to say. Jaraiya did him the favor. If thats what you'd like to call it.

"What he's TRYING to say, is that you're a very lovely young lady! And he couldn't keep his eyes off those two great big, round, juicy--"

"Eyes." Kakashi interrupted, trying to save as much face as possible. Amaya's face didn't change. Kakashi was sure that if she wasn't cursed.. it still wouldn't have. He laughed nervously and scratched his neck even more.

"Even with my matted hair and mangled body, you think of me as 'lovely'?" She softly asked. "I doubt it. Not even the biggest man-whore in the world would find me attractive now." She casually remarked. "most of them are probably getting their torches and weapons ready now. I shant be here much longer."

"The biggest man-whore in the world just SAID you were a lovely young lady." Tsunade grumbled, giving Jiraiya the evil eye. Jiraiya was too busy staring at Amaya's chest to notice. "You should be safe here in the hospital. For now."

"I thank you. But you need not worry about me. I will die soon." Kakashi was taken aback by her blunt answer.

"Well, I best be off." Jiraiya said. "I've got things to do."

"As do I." said Tsunade. She went first and Jiraiya followed. After he got so far through the door, however, he stopped.

"If you're feeling any better later on, come down to the apartment building in the middle of town! I'm in apartment number three two fou--" Tsunade's hand reached over and grabbed him by the hair and pulled him away. The door shut right after. Amaya and Kakashi listened to his whining, something about Tsunade ruining his chances, and him getting lucky that night, as it faded further and further down the hallway. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"I, uh, I'm sorry about what happened back there." Kakashi began, still embarassed by the perverted sage's speech. "um, You see, Jiraiya is--"

"Don't worry about it."

"... okay."

"You can leave if you want to." She said. "You don't need to stay here on my behalf."

"If you're sure."

"Positive. You look like a busy man." she said, looking up at his Hitai-ate. "If Hokage-sama called you in here, i'm sure it's because you're well known for being a strong ninja."

Kakashi hesitated, but he slowly turned away and walked out the door. He stopped before he closed it and looked over his shoulder. Amaya saw a very concerned look in his eye.

"Take care of yourself.." he softly said, and closed the door. Amaya listen to his footsteps fade away. She was alone once more.


	4. Chapter 3: Aya

Chapter 3: Aya

The sun was very intense, beating down mercilessly on the citazens of Sunagakure. There was very little wind, with only a scarce breath sweeping their faces every so often. Temari and Kankurou were walking down the busiest market street in the village. There were many stands up with vendors selling various items, from pottery to priceless jewelry.

"Sure is busy here-jaan." Kankurou said.

"It's a good day to set up shop." Temari agreed. "There's not a lot of wind, so there's not a lot of sand blowing around."

"I wonder if there's anyone selling puppets." Kankurou wondered, to which Temari sighed and smacked her forehead with her palm.

"You sure do have a one-track mind, don't ya, Kankurou?"

"But Karasu needs more weapons-jaan!" he argued. "And I can't just say no to him!"

"He's a PUPPET, Kankurou." Temari sighed. "if you were mentally sound you wouldn't be saying ANYTHING to him." Kankurou almost seemed destressed by what she said.

"You don't need to be so mean-jaan..." he whined to himself. He had a very close relationship with his puppets that no one would ever understand unless they were puppet masters themselves. Temari spotted something in the corner of her eye.

"Hey! Look at this!" She said, walking up to a small stand on the side. She was looking at a porcelean vase. "How much does this cost?" She asked the vender. Kankurou watched from the middle of the street, and he chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He looked around. There was a lot of noise, people trying to barter, vendors calling people to their stands, announcements of imported goods and of one-day-only sales, people laughing and talking. It was, overall, a nice day in Sunagakure. It's only been a few days since they came back from the Chuunin exams. Temari and Kankurou were fully recovered. Gaara was still in the hospital. Gaara has never seen much of anything like this in his life. Whenever he was around, everything around him would always stop. Kankurou couldn't help but wish he could have brought Gaara here with him so he could show him what normal life was like.

"I'll give you twenty for it!" He heard Temari trying to bargan for a good deal. "Oh come on! Okay, twenty five, final offer! ... Thirty then?"

"_You're not gonna get a good deal if you keep caving in like that, Temari."_ Kankurou thought to himself. His pattern of thought was interrupted when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Hey, Kankurou!!" Called a man from one of the booths. It was filled with wooden arms, various blades and many wrapped mummy-like packages. Kankurou's face lit up with glee when he saw him. "I got somethin' for ya! I think you'll like dis one!"

"Oh, MAN! Am I glad to see you-jaan!!" Kankurou said as he rushed up to him. "So lay it on me, Shi! What do you have for me this time?" The man turned around and picked up one of the packages. He put it on the counter of the booth.

"It's name's Kuroari." He said. "Dis puppet should work great wit Karasu! You might need ta make a couple of alterations and grease up the mechanism's a bit. It's anotha classic puppet, eh?"

"Nothing a little tweaking never fixed." Kankurou picked the package up and examined it. "So what makes this puppet so special-jaan?"

"Go 'head and unwrap it! Give it a shot!" As he said this, Kankurou pulled one of the bandages. They all fell off and a six-legged Barrel-like puppet with horns was revealed. Kankurou studied the puppet. At first, he wasn't impressed.

"This puppet doesn't have any blades or anything on it." he pouted. "What exactly does it do?"

"See dat there barrel?"

"Yeah?"

"It opens. It's a trapping puppet." Kankurou joined a couple of Chakra strings to the latches on the barrel, and pulled. Slowly, with a loud Creaking noise, the barrel opened up.

"Niiiiice-jaan..." Kankurou examined the puppet further. "What are these rectangular slots here for?"

"Ya remember the blades inside Karasu's arms and legs? Those fit into those there slots and impale the victim."

"How much?" Kankurou softly asked.

"What?"

"How much do you want for it?" He was staring at the puppet in an almost trance-like state. Shi knew this look all too well.

"fifty bucks, my man." Kankurou reached into his pocket, grabbed the money that he had there, and handed it to the man, all without taking his eyes off the puppet. Shi counted the money. "You, uh... gave me a little too much there, my friend. In fact, ya threw in an extra thirty bucks there."

"Keep it."

"Are ya su--"

"Keep it."

"Uh... okay den... But at least lemme throw in dese here saw blades. I couldn't find any buyers for them." Kankurou finally turned to Shi and took the four blades. "I'm sure a guy like yourself can find sometin' ta do wit dese."

"You know it-jaan." Kankurou agreed. "Oh man, I can't wait to try this thing out!"

Suddenly, a huge cry, almost like that of a childs, pierced through the sky. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked down the road. Some people were gasping, screaming, and yelling. A man, carrying a huge sack of cash, pushed and shoved his way quickly down the road.

"Looks like ya won't have ta." joked Shi. "Hurry now! Don't let 'em get away! Dere he goes!" Kankurou saw the man run past the stand. He quickly gave chase after him, and using his chakra strings, violently pulled the man's body into Kuroari's body. The man dropped the money in shock, and the latches closed and locked on him.

"Let me outta here you son of a bitch!!" He yelled from the inside as the latches all locked in place one by one. Kankurou slowly walked up to the puppet.

"So tell me! Who did ya steal this money from, eh-jaan?" He questioned. Temari rushed up to Kankurou.

"What happened?" Temari asked. "And... What the hell is THAT thing?!"

"Isn't he cute?" Kankurou asked, smiling.

"Not in the least."

"I said LET ME THE HELL OUT!!" The man started kicking the walls of his prison in vain.

"Think we should bring him in for questioning?"

"Yeah. Can you lift the puppet?"

Kankurou attached a few Chakra strings to Kuroari's back, but as he tugged on them, he accidentally triggered a mechanism as three scythe-like blades ran extremely quickly along the seams of the puppet's body. The man let out a blood curdling scream. A few of the onlookers gasped. Temari jumped back a step, one fist up to her chin. Then there was silence. Some blood started trickling out of Kuroari's body.

"Ooops. I, uh, guess there were some blades in it after all-jaan." He said, scratching his neck.

"yeah, I forgot ta tell ya 'bout those..." he heard Shi yell out to him. "Nice catch though!"

"Please don't tell me you bought this thing..." Temari moaned.

"Okay, I won't." Kankurou said, gleefully. He looked over at the bag of money that was laying on the ground. Kankurou walked over and picked it up. It was pretty heavy. He heard voices not too far away from them.

"Is she hurt?" "What happened here?" "That man just ran up and knocked her down! Than he took her money and ran off!" "That Coward!" "Poor girl! I hope she's okay." That must be who was robbed, Kankurou thought to himself. He walked over and pushed his way through the crowd, holding the bag of money in one hand. The once noisy street was now filled with nothing but soft gasps and concerned voices. Kankurou finally reached the booth, and walked behind it. He saw a girl wearing a multicolored Kimono with strange sleeves, almost twice as long as the girls arms. Her face was pointed at the ground, hidden by her bright orange hair, held back with a green headband with a Giraffe clip.

"Here you go ma'am." he said, holding out the money as the girl tried to stand up. "You won't have anymore trouble from him-jaan. I took care of it." He noticed the girl had some trouble standing up. She seemed a little upset. "Oh, Here. Lemme help you up ma'am." he said, offering his hand. She looked up slightly and softly laid her hand inside. Kankurou helped her up. Kankurou looked up at the sky. Perfect bragging oppertunity. "Yup, he was a tough guy alright-jaan! I bet if it wasn't for my puppets, he would have got away scott-free! Yep.. But you know, lady, you really should invest in hiring a bodyguard-jaan. I mean, you don't exactly look like someone who can protect themself, and I... uh... I-I..."

When Kankurou looked back down, he found himself at a loss for words as a set of the most adorable, big brown eyes stared back into his. The young girl had a small frown on her face. It was the cutest thing Kankurou has ever seen in his life. He couldn't even bring himself to blink. The girl brought one arm up over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry... for causing all this trouble for you, Mr. Ninja..." The girl had the softest voice imaginable. It sounded almost childish. Kankurou began nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"N-n-no! No! Not at all! D-d-d-don't worry about it miss! Please! I-i-it was no trouble at all!" He held out the girls money. "P-p-please, take this!" The young girl eyed the bag of money, and calmly placed both arms in front of herself, resting her concealed hands on her lap as the sleeves of her robes fell on the ground.

"No, thats okay... Please keep it." A smile finally crossed her face. It was even more adorable than her frown. it was a bright, child-like smile. She closed her eyes. "Thank you so much, Um..." Her smile faded, but she didn't look sad. "Oh, deary me, I don't know your name.." Kankurou's face suddenly turned pale. _Very_ pale.

"I... I'm, uh.. I-i-i'm..."

"You're Kankurou." Temari assured him. Kankurou's face froze, than a nervous grin crossed his face as he blushed.

"Kankurou.." He softly repeated.

"K-shu k-shuu.." The girl giggled, hiding her mouth with her sleeve again. it was the most adorable giggle Kankurou ever heard in his life. "Ne, Um.. you mentioned that I should, um... hire a bodyguard..? Um.. I'd.. I'd love to, but I.. I keep getting robbed, s-so I usually don't have any money... So, um.. Kankurou-san, if um, If you know of a ninja who wouldn't mind one day's free work, th-than tell them I could handsomely reward them later on.." She was pretty nervous. Kankurou turned around and pressed his two index fingers together over and over again.

"_Damn..."_ He wondered. "_Why do pretty girls make me so nervous?_" He finally turned back around. "Um, I could be your bodyguard if you want!" He said in a hurry.

"Really? You'd do that for me?" She laughed and held one hand inside the other just underneath her chin. "F-fantastic! Th-thank you so much, Kankurou-san! I'll close up shop now, b-but meet me here again tomorrow at six, okay?"

"Okay! I-I'll do it! For as long as you need me-jaan! For free-jaan! I'll even help you sell stuff if you want-jaan!!" He added in without thinking first.

"Alright! Bye-Bye, Kankurou-san!!" Suddenly the girl gasped. "Oh dear.. Where are my manners.." She blushed and hid her mouth behind both hands. "I was going to have you do all that work for me without giving you my name. I'm so sorry.." She lowered both her hands into her lap. Her small, child-like smile returned. "My name is Aya."

"Ah, I-I see..." Kankurou smiled. "N-nice to meet you, Aya-chan. I-i-i guess I'll s-see you tomorrow."

"Okay! Bye-bye, Kankurou-san!" She said. Kankurou turned and started walking away rather quickly, towing his puppet behind him. Temari followed.

"You.. realize that you just agreed to free labour for god knows how long, right, Kankurou?" She asked? Kankurou nodded. He didn't say anything. Temari sighed. "You really need to get over your fear of cute girls, Kankurou. Well, at least you're not afraid of me." she joked.

"For my safety and for the protection of those around me, I'm not going to comment on that." He mumbled. Temari didn't hear him. The two of them went back home.


End file.
